Festival
Beyond Silence
Jenseits Der Stille (German)
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With: Tatjana Trieb, Sylvie Testud, Howie Seago, Emmanuelle Laborit, Sybille Canonica, Selestina Stannisavijevic, Matthias Habich, Hansa Czypionka, Horst Sachtieben, Doris Schade.
At age 8 or so, Lara (played as a child by Tatjana Trieb, in a rather calculatedly precocious turn) is already accustomed to being her parents' "ears" in the world -- even to the point of translating their meetings with bank managers and her own school teachers. (Though the Bischoff family lives in a small German town, it still strains credulity that no other sign-interpreter can be found.) Lara sometimes exploits this power to her own ends, censoring or flat-out misrepresenting others' communication when convenient.
Though father Martin (Howie Seago) and mother Kal (Emmanuelle Laborit) are a loving pair, Lara nonetheless feels stifled at times by their "silent" dependency. This conflict comes to an early head when sophisticated aunt Clarissa (Sybille Canonica) gives a clarinet to her niece -- an act that awakens bitter memories for Martin, whose relations with his sis and wealthy parents are strained at best.
An abrupt jump forward finds 18-year-old Lara (Sylvie Testud) chafing at the domestic bit more than ever, particularly since she's become quite the clarinet prodigy. Clarissa, who plays the same instrument in a Berlin club ensemble, suggests they spend the summer together in Berlin, prepping Lara for entrance to a music conservatory. This idea is ill received at home, but moves ahead nonetheless.
The big city provides Lara with freedom and first romance, with a hearing teacher of deaf children (Hansa Czypionka). But family tragedy soon yanks her back to the village, and into harsher confrontations with Dad. A rather wet finale finds father and daughter reconciled during Lara's entrance audition.
Pic has a tendency to plod, with cutesy montages leavening conflicts whose psychological nuancing seldom rises above glib telepic level. We're not convinced the deaf parents would be so blind to their eldest daughter's needs (a younger, eventually bratty newborn arrives early on). Nor is the seemingly free-spirited yet unhappy aunt given much depth.
Neither Trieb nor Testud lend Lara the kind of inner sparkle that invites rooting; the character too often comes off peevish, and lame musical interludes don't render her artistic muse very compelling either. Adult thesps are fine within writing confines.
Technically, package is polished, with a slightly overdone, snow-globe-type prettiness in the rural lensing. Pic's failure to plumb family strife or deaf/hearing issues more profoundly won't stand out so much on TV, which is where it belongs.
Camera (color), Gernot Roll; editor, Paricia Rommel; music, Niki Reiser; set design, Susann Bieling; costumes, Katarina von Martius; makeup, Heidi Moser; sound, Andreas Wolki. Reviewed at Variety Club Screening Room, San Francisco, Sept. 17, 1996. (In Mill Valley Film Festival.) Running time: 109 MIN.
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